FAQ

General FAQs

What's this all about?

This is a one day mini-conference, aimed at practioners who are working with Lean, Agile, or Systems Thinking techniques. The primary audience is the Melbourne practitioner community, although you're also welcome if you are from out of town. The day will be participatory, and collaborative. Workshops, activities, and discussions are favoured ahead of one person speaking at the front of the room in front of a slide deck.

The event is being run by practitioners from the Melbourne community.

Why LAST?

LAST stands for "Lean, Agile, Systems Thinking".

Our day is inspired by the Agile Tour, the inaugural Australian instance was held in December 2011, in Sydney. The organisers of LAST, felt that the Melbourne community could really benefit from something similar, and so LAST Conference was born.

With the naming of the event, we wanted to provide a broad remit, so that the full scope of practice could potentially be covered.

Who should come?

The event is not aimed at beginners, but rather for people who have worked in the field, and want to extend their knowledge, and share their experiences with other practitioners in a collaborative and interactive environment.

There is a "Call for Submissions (for Ideas)" that will be open until midnight on 1 June 2012. We are using UserVoice to gather the ideas, that can be voted on by the Melbourne Practitioner community, until that date.

The sessions for the day will be announced in June. We want to encourage activities and workshops, and also discussions about real world experiences (both positive and problematic). There will be multiple sessions running at the same time, so you'll have a choice in what session you want to attend.

We may also build in an Open Space/Unconference style section into the day.

Low cost?

We are asking for a participation fee to register. This is mainly to cover costs but also to encourage commitment that a "no cost" event lacks.

Will there be food?

You'll be adequately fed and watered (refreshments available during the morning, lunch, and afternoon tea) during the day. There will also be a post-event gathering, with sponsorship from Rally Software.

When will Registration open?

Registration will be in a series of releases. The first release of places will be at 9am on Thursday 26 April. There will be a number of discounted places available for "Innovators"; engaged and eagle-eyed community members.

When those places are gone, there will be a second release, for "Early Adopters". The $40 cost is 20% less than the general registration cost.

Can I send someone else or get a refund?

If you get stuck, send an email to info@lastconference.com, supplying the names, email addresses, contact phone number, and dietary/access needs, for the revised attendees.

If you wish to cancel…

before midnight on Thursday 28 June 2012. 100% refund.

before midnight on Thursday 5 July 2012. 75% refund*

before midnight on Thursday 12 July. 50% refund*

before midnight on Thursday 19 July. 25% refund*

No refunds are available after midnight on Thursday 19 July.

* Please note, some Eventbrite fees will apply to partial refunds.

What is Lanyrd?

We are usingLanyrd for session and speaker details. You can use it to track sessions and speakers, and find follow up coverage. Here's what it looked like for the recent Google I/O conference.

They provide a mobile version for various mobile devices, and an iOS app . It even allows for offline access…and it's free.

Easy Twitter sign in will also allow you to meet other attendees, and find out about other events that you might find interesting. Don't worry if you don't have a Twitter account, you can still use Lanyrd to view event info.

Who's organising it?

There is a burgeoning Agile and Lean community in Melbourne that holds regular evening user group events throughout the year. Ed Wong and Craig Brown, co-organisers of one of these groups, and experienced practitioners, decided to make it happen.